The other week when I was grocery shopping (I’m still living in Holmes County, OH, working for the summer), I was purusing the discount shelf at a store and happened to come across a bag of dry pinto beans for all of seventy-something cents. You can’t really get any cheaper than that, so I picked it up. Well, this past week I crockpotted it (is “crockpotted” a word? Spellcheck tells me it’s not. *add to dictionary* Now it is.) because I didn’t want to take it home with me. I’m getting to the end of my stay here, so I’m trying to use up everything I have on hand. Since I’m almost out of oatmeal (I’ve been living on chocolate oatmeal and cottage cheese for breakfast pretty much every morning for over two months and haven’t gotten tired of it yet), these beans will be my breakfast for awhile. Strange? Perhaps. But then are you surprised if you know me at all? Probably not. I eat many strange things at many strange times, and these beans are really good, so I sure wouldn’t mind eating them for breakfast (reminds me of the Dr. Suess book Green Eggs and Ham. I’d sure like to try green eggs.).

Is it just me, or is this post getting a little silly and side-tracked? That’s quite possible, because I’M GOING HOME THIS WEEKEND!! And I’m excited, can you tell? I haven’t seen my family in over two months, and I miss them, and my church family, and my horses. I don’t miss the South Carolina heat, but I miss the culture. And it’s home, and while Holmes County is beautiful and the people are nice, it’s not home. It has become my “home away from home” because I’ve been here so much (this is the 4th summer I’ve spent time here working, although I’ve never stayed this long before), but it’s still not quite the same as Pickens, South Carolina. There just aren’t enough rednecks up here.

Anyway, I’m super excited to go home and get back to all my normal activities. I’m going to be starting some new projects as well. I’ll give you a hint: one of them starts with “cook” and ends with “book”. Yeah, that one’s going to be an insane amount of work but I’m getting more and more excited! I just can’t wait to get back into a real kitchen.

But back to these beans, because this is what’s going on right now. Can I just list their perks and call it good?

made in the crockpot

CHEAP

full of flavor

makes a large batch

good protein source

so easy

THM:E

There, I think that just about covers it. Now go make them.

Remember those chicken leg quarters I got awhile back (you can read about my adventures with them here)? Well, I crockpotted the ones that I had stuffed back into the freezer, and after I ate the meat, I skimmed the fat off the broth and used it in these beans. The chicken broth combined with the spices gives these beans great flavor. You’ll notice that I called for most of the spices to be added at the end of cooking. Because of the time constraints I was working around, that’s how I did it, so that’s how I wrote it in the recipe. Besides, I think this will give you a more powerful-flavored end product. I’ve heard that if you cook beans with salt, the skins can get tough, so definitely add the salt at the end even if you add the other spices before cooking.

Well, I think that about wraps it up, folks. Question of the day: how long does it take for a place away from home to become home for you?

1 lb. dry beans of choice (I used pinto beans, but black beans would be great as well)

1-2 cups fat free chicken broth

6-8 cups water (depending on how soupy you want the beans to be; I used the full 8 cups)

Small handful each of fresh dill, basil, and parsley, chopped

2 tsp. garlic powder

2-3 tsp. salt

1 tsp. each cumin, dried oregano, and chili powder

2 tsp. dried cilantro

½ tsp. paprika

Instructions

Soak the beans in water overnight. Rinse and drain them in the morning and put them in a crockpot with the chicken broth, water, fresh herbs, and garlic powder. Cook on low all day or until the beans are completely tender. Add the rest of the seasonings and stir well. Serve. You may either serve the beans whole as-is or mash them.

Trim Healthy Mamas, you can use 1½ cups of beans (this doesn't include the juice) as your carb source for an E meal. I didn't measure the complete end product, but I'm guessing you will get at least 6 servings from this recipe.

Possible tweaks: 1) use more chicken broth in place of some of the water, 2) add some bits and pieces of chicken breast for extra flavor, and/or 3) add other fresh herbs of choice, like fresh cilantro. You could also add chopped onion, real minced garlic, and/or chopped jalapenos.

Comments

Briana- there actually is such a thing as green eggs:) I have an araucana chicken that lays green eggs… obvoiusly a normal egg on the inside but nevertheless a GREEN egg! I have heard that they are much healthier but have never done any research on it.
And I like what you said about rednecks 😀 thats one of the things that defines home for me as well!

Chiming in as a Hispanic family—-it’s acceptable to eat frijoles at any meal. 😉 I just put dried frijoles, water, garlic pieces, and some Knorr Caldo de Tomatecon Sabor de Pollo seasoning(tomato bouillon w/chicken flavor). Let it cook overnight on low and it’s ready for breakfast

Oh, forgot to mention you can make a soup with it too…..when it’s done cooking we cook in a skillet sliced (thin and small) pieces of lean beef and a diced onion, then add to frijoles and pour in homemade green salsa(tomatillos and jalapeños). Serve with chopped fresh cilantro and onions….at restaurants they add bacon crumbles too but you can’t in an E setting

I need to use dried dill, basil and parsley in place of fresh herbs. Would a tablespoon of dried be equal to what you consider to be a small handful of fresh herbs? Is your small handful about 1/4 cup? I am going to try that amount, but I’m interested to hear what you would use if you did not have fresh herbs on hand. Thank you!

I cant wait to try this recipe! My hubby is a first gen Mexican and taught me to cook beans in a pot on the stove, no prior soaking needed, but I have to keep adding water all day and its such a chore for me to make, coming from a family whose mother wouldnt make it if it couldnt be cooked in an hour lol. My husbands beans used bouillon cubes, oil and lots of salt to make flavorful and ive always thought theres got to be a healthier way to make them – so thank you for putting this recipe out there! One thing im confused about though: i was taught dried oregano and dried cilantro were the same spice, just named different! Not so?